22 Ways to Celebrate Milestones For Free or Cheap

Budgeting, Emotions and Money, Financial Wellness 3 Minutes

When people think about finances they think about numbers and spreadsheets, but personal finance is a journey, and journeys need milestones.

Taking time to celebrate our milestones can help us have gratitude and happiness for the things we have achieved, and to look forward with joy and optimism to what is coming next. It can help keep us motivated, and help us realize that yes, we actually have made progress – especially when progress seems slow.

It is also a big part of being able to see money and finances as something positive, even joyful, instead of as a source of worry and fear.

But if you are trying to stick to a budget, you may not want to spend a lot of money to celebrate your financial milestones.

Below are 22 ways that you can still celebrate your wins without breaking the bank.

22 Ways to Celebrate Milestones Without Spending a Lot of Money

  1. Make a paper banner celebrating your achievement and hang it up in your house. 
  2. Create something. Get a kids paint set and some paper and paint something. Or get a box of crayons and draw something, or write a story, or color in a coloring book, or make music. Don’t worry about being “good,” just have fun with it.
  3. Destroy something. Buy some cheap plates at the dollar store and break one for every year you spent paying off a debt. Or print out a copy of your final statement and have a ceremony where you burn it, or bury it in the yard.
  4. Spend a day offline. Give yourself a day to completely unplug and relax.
  5. Get outside and walk in nature.
  6. Cook your favorite food—or try a new recipe that you have been wanting to make.
  7. Put on your fanciest outfit and drink all your drinks out of wine glasses for one day. Wear paper crowns and have everyone in the household call each other “sir” or “madam.”
  8. Invite a friend over for a home cooked meal, or a glass of wine and some snacks. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it is just about spending time together.
  9. Have a home spa day. Take time for a facial, a home mani-pedi, or whatever makes you feel good. Light some candles, pour yourself a glass of wine or make a cup of tea. 
  10. Write about your milestone in a journal or in a letter to yourself. Or you can share it on social media and inspire someone else.
  11. Buy yourself a bunch of flowers from the grocery store. Write yourself a note to go with it that celebrates what you have accomplished.
  12. Get a small house plant, either from the store or get a cutting from a friend. Put a label on the pot that says what you are celebrating. As you watch it grow you can be reminded of what you have accomplished.
  13. Look for a free concert or other performance you can attend.
  14. Find a free class in a favorite activity, or something you have never tried before.
  15. Take time to look at old photos and relive special memories. Even better—invite a friend or loved one to do it with you.
  16. Discover some new music and make yourself a new playlist.
  17. Buy a cake mix at the grocery store and bake yourself a cake.
  18. Eat breakfast in bed, and then spend the rest of the morning relaxing in bed with a favorite book or movie.
  19. Write yourself a congratulations note or card and actually send it to yourself in the mail. Make sure to act surprised when you receive it!
  20. Write a note to someone else or call them, thanking them for their support, or congratulating them on their own milestones.
  21. Take some time to create a vision board for the next goal, or for something coming up that you are looking forward to.
  22. Find the nearest park, lay in the grass and look up at the clouds and think about what you have achieved.

Turning dreams into goals, and goals into milestones, is a big part of what I do in coaching. If you would like to sit down with someone (me!) and turn your own financial dreams into reality, I offer a free 30-minute intro call, and affordable coaching packages. All coaching is done over video call, and I do not sell financial products – just practical strategies that will help you change your financial future forever. Really!

Why wait? Schedule a call with me today and let’s get started!

Published by Sandra Verthein

Sandra Verthein is a Chicago-based Personal Financial Coach, currently living in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. She is a Certified Financial Education Instructor℠ with the National Financial Educators Council. She was Co-Artistic Director of Stage Left Theater, and was a founding member of Glenwood Dance Studio. In 2018 she retired from her 17-year career as a Civil Engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff (now WSP). After years of informally helping friends and family, she officially founded SJV Financial Coaching in fall of 2022, and has been successfully helping people change their financial futures.

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